What happens when the Romulans learn they've been tricked?

[I Am Spartacus]

What do the Romulans do somewhere down the line when they (or their government) realizes that they were tricked into the war by Sisko? It's a pretty big deal to learn that the only reason why your country lost hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of its people and expended huge resources on a total war effort was because someone lied to you and killed one of your diplomats to trick you into thinking it was the other guy. Do you think they demand reparations from the Federation? Do they erect a sign with a giant middle finger at every outpost along the Federation border? Do they go to war again? Or do they just accept what happened and move on?

[Mark]

Well, I'd think that would have been cause for war. However, in the original timeline, Romulas has been destroyed and LIKELY the Romulan Empire will collapse, and either be conquered or in desperation, join the Federation anyway. So I can't see any serious repercussions.

[I Am Spartacus]

Well, for the purposes of this discussion, let's ignore the new movie. Let's stick to pre-STXI canon.

[Sionnach Glic]

The Romulans bitch about it, but do nothing more. They can't challenge the UFP militarily.

[Aaron]

If you take what Sloan said at face value then they do nothing, they came out of the war in a better position then they would have if they stayed neutral.

[I Am Spartacus]

When did Sloan say this, and what exactly did he say?

[Aaron]

When did Sloan say this, and what exactly did he say?

I can't find the exact quote or episode but he says something about how the Klingons will be crippled by the Dominion War and only the UFP and RE will be in any shape to dominate the area.

I know someone (Deep likely) knows about it. I personaly put anything Sloan says into the "probable BS" category given his job but he might be right.

[thelordharry]

How do they find out though? Vreenak's dead, the evidence is 'destroyed' so all the UPF have to do is keep schtoom (he says, winking and tapping his nose).

[Sonic Glitch]

When did Sloan say this, and what exactly did he say?

I can't find the exact quote or episode but he says something about how the Klingons will be crippled by the Dominion War and only the UFP and RE will be in any shape to dominate the area.

I know someone (Deep likely) knows about it. I personaly put anything Sloan says into the "probable BS" category given his job but he might be right.

I don't know about "probably BS" given balance-of-power issues, S31 is probably more or better informed than most of the Federation. Isn't it their job to take care of things before anyone realizes there's an issue?

[Aaron]

I don't know about "probably BS" given balance-of-power issues, S31 is probably more or better informed than most of the Federation. Isn't it their job to take care of things before anyone realizes there's an issue?

No I mean Sloan specifically, he's a known liar and manipulator so I don't perasonally trust his dialogue.

[Sonic Glitch]

I don't know about "probably BS" given balance-of-power issues, S31 is probably more or better informed than most of the Federation. Isn't it their job to take care of things before anyone realizes there's an issue?

No I mean Sloan specifically, he's a known liar and manipulator so I don't perasonally trust his dialogue.

Ah fair enough. I disagree, at least on the issue of his statements regarding post DW Balance of Power, but I see your point.

[Captain Seafort]

Ah fair enough. I disagree, at least on the issue of his statements regarding post DW Balance of Power, but I see your point.

Sloan is about as reliable a source as Garak for pretty much anything. In this case he was trying to convince Bashir to spy on the Romulans for him - it was therefore in his interest to play up the Romulans as much as possible, and what better way to do that than to depict them as the Feds sole rivals in the post-DW Alpha Quadrant?

Of course that's not to say he was lying, but he had both the motive to, and the track record of doing so.

[Sonic Glitch]

Ah fair enough. I disagree, at least on the issue of his statements regarding post DW Balance of Power, but I see your point.

Sloan is about as reliable a source as Garak for pretty much anything. In this case he was trying to convince Bashir to spy on the Romulans for him - it was therefore in his interest to play up the Romulans as much as possible, and what better way to do that than to depict them as the Feds sole rivals in the post-DW Alpha Quadrant?

Just because he's putting spin on it doesn't mean it's not at least partially accurate. Even the grandest lie has to be based on a grain of truth doesn't it? And if you think about it, who bore the brunt of the Dominion Assault while the Feds were working on their shields? The Klingons. Who launched the most offensive missions early on? The Klingons (granted, because Gowron was a crazy power-hungry sunuvabitch by that point). Who entered the war late? The Romulans. Who, therefore, would have the least casualties? The Romulans. With the Klingon fleet suffering massive casualties (for their attack first and kamikaze nature), the only power left as a real threat to the Federation would be the Romulans and vice versa.

[Captain Seafort]

Just because he's putting spin on it doesn't mean it's not at least partially accurate.

No, but as a source he's uncertain at best.

Even the grandest lie has to be based on a grain of truth doesn't it?

Depends on who you're trying to lie to. Bashir is a Doctor, not an Admiral or a staff officer - he's not likely to have a great deal of knowledge about the specifics of respective casualty rates, or the relative impact of the war on the various allies relative to their industrial base. If push comes to shove Sloan could easily have claimed to have access to classified information Bashir didn't have.

And if you think about it, who bore the brunt of the Dominion Assault while the Feds were working on their shields? The Klingons. Who launched the most offensive missions early on? The Klingons (granted, because Gowron was a crazy power-hungry sunuvabitch by that point).

None of which had happened by that point.

Who entered the war late? The Romulans. Who, therefore, would have the least casualties? The Romulans.

Who should have had the fewest casualties. Not would. It was outright stated in TotP that the Romulans were inviting and absorbing repeated attacks from the Dominion to take the pressure off the UFP and the Klingons, and while the balance of casualties was clearly favouring them, that is by no means a guarantee that the Romulans weren't suffering heavy losses themselves.

Moreover, the UFP had been fighting just as long as the Klingons, and by Sloan's analysis would be in a position to challenge the Romulans. Despite the fact that it was the Feds who took the brunt of the casualties in Op RETURN (the largest battle of the war by far up to that point), and who would have taken the brunt of the damage to their infrastructure as the war was being fought on their territory.

[colmquinn]

They probably would bitch but not do much. After all they are the ones who are known for trickery and such so maybe it could've earned some grudging respect for a trick well played.